It’s one of those master flavor combos which I’m sure chefs have known about for years, but I discovered by accident the other day when I happened to have some cooked shrimp and canned olives in the fridge and I took a bite of each. Wow, so good!

Here’s the recipe that evolved from that serendipitous moment—a quick and easy dinner with shrimp cooked in a fresh tomato, garlic, caper, and olive sauce, tossed with orzo pasta and chopped arugula.

Every bite is packed with flavor, which is well balanced with the sweet shrimp, salty tangy capers, acidic and sweet tomatoes, garlic, buttery olives, and peppery arugula.

I’ve left the tails on the shrimp because 1) they look prettier, and 2) I love pulling the last bit of shrimp out of the shell as I eat them, but feel free to use fully shelled shrimp if you prefer.

The dish is served warm, but you could easily eat it at room temp or cold. It reheats fine for leftovers the next day.

BTW, this dish gets a hearty seal of approval from both my father and my sweetheart, two thumbs up!

Method

1 Cook the pasta: Put a pot of salted water (1 Tbsp of salt for 2 quarts of water) on to boil.When the pasta water is at a rolling boil, add the orzo. Once the water returns to a boil, the pasta should take about 8 to 10 minutes to cook to reach al dente (cooked but still a little firm to the bite).

While the water is heating and the pasta is cooking, cook the tomatoes and shrimp in the next steps.

2 Cook the garlic and tomatoes: Heat 3 Tbsp oil in a large, wide sauté pan on medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Stir in the chopped tomatoes, increase the heat to medium high, and let cook for about 5 minutes.

3 Add the olives, capers, salt, pepper: Stir the capers and chopped olives in with the tomatoes. Add 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

4 Add the shrimp: A few minutes before the orzo is ready, add the shrimp to the tomatoes and olives. Let the shrimp cook on one side for a couple minutes, then turn them over to cook for a minute or two on the other side.

Remove from heat as soon as the shrimp are almost cooked through.

5 Drain the pasta, add to shrimp and tomatoes: When the pasta is al dente, drain it and stir it into the tomatoes and shrimp. Stir in the chopped arugula or parsley.

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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.

Hi, Debra! Emma here, managing editor. If you can find good cherry tomatoes or vine-ripe tomatoes in the store, I’d go with those. If not, next best would be whole canned tomatoes — strain them from their juices and then chop them into little pieces (I usually do this right in the bowl with a pair of kitchen sheers). Save the tomato juice and add a little to the pan if you want some extra tomato flavor. Hope this helps! Stay cozy over there in Minnesota!

Amazing–magically rich and light at the same time!! Hubby suggested green olives instead of black; I countered with kalamata–this is definitely a work in progress at our house. Thanks for a great recipe–it will be interesting to see what we end up with after a couple more tries with this recipe. This is definitely a keeper!

Finally made this dish this past weekend. Goofed and got kalamata olives instead of black, but it was delicious all the same. The kalamatas and caper juice give it a nice briny bite but keep it light. Still want to check out that black olive/shrimp combo tho . . .